The invention relates to a handle or pulling structure for opening or closing a zipper.
Sliding-type zippers have been widely used in the fields of articles for living, such as clothes and containers, industry, agriculture and the like. In the conventional zipper handle structure, a slider main portion 50, as shown in FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b), has a pillar shape engaging member 51 projecting from an upper outer circumference thereof, and a handle member 53 or 54 swingably attached to the engaging member 51 directly or through an attaching member 52 is held to open or close the zipper. The handle member 53 shown in FIG. 10(a) is formed of a metal flat board having an opening 53a on one side thereof. The handle member 53 is assembled to engage the opening 53a when the engaging member 53 is assembled to the slider main portion 50. The handle member 54 shown in FIG. 10(b) is made of a metal material or a resin, and is engaged with the engaging member 51 through an attaching member 52 having an opening 52a. In this case, the handle member 54 has been fixed to the attaching member 52, and when the engaging member 51 is attached to the slider main portion 50, the opening 52a of the attaching member 52 is assembled with the engaging member 51. As described above, the opening 53a of the handle member 53 or the opening 52a of the attaching member 52 is formed relatively large and is swingably engaged with the engaging member 51 on the side of the main portion 50, so that the handle member 53 or 54 can be easily held and does not become an obstacle when it is not used.
In the above-described conventional handle structures, normally, since the handle member 53 or 54 is integrally assembled with the engaging member 51 of the slider main portion 50, in case a design of the handle member 53 or 54 is changed, its exchange is very difficult. Therefore, in case the handle member of FIG. 10(b) is changed, for example, it is considered that engaging holes are provided on both sides of the handle member 54, and an intermediate portion of the attaching member 52 at the side of the handle member 54 is cut off to allow the parts of the attaching member 52 to engage the corresponding engaging holes of the handle member 54 to thereby attach the handle member 54 to the attaching member 52. However, in this case, the attaching strength is not enough and exchanging ability thereof becomes poor. Also, although the handle members 53 and 54 of this type are relatively small in size, they have to stand a large pulling load. Therefore, in the zipper handle, it has been desired that the attaching strength is increased, no limitation is required in its shape, and a user can easily exchange the zipper handle by himself.
In view of the above defects, the present invention has been made, and an object of the invention is to provide a novel zipper handle structure, wherein in case the handle member is attached to the attaching member on the side of the slider main portion by a later-attaching method, a user can easily exchange the handle member according to the user's preference, the attaching strength can be increased, and the thickness and shape of the handle member are not limited.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.